Does Your Sanding Make Sense? "Trouble starts when taking off more than a belt can handle, or taking off more than the scratch pattern of the previous head. These are the most common mistakes in sanding... It can be incredibly frustrating to see a company trapped in a prison of their own design because they really never und ......

A Tale of Two Grit Sequences Sophisticated practical advice on the wise sequence of grit choices for a belt sander to optimize sanding effectiveness while removing final scratches and preventing burnishing defects. November 12, 2014

Hardwood Lumber Tallies Are you being shorted on a lumber delivery? The answer could depend on the fine points of board-foot calculations. April 19, 2015

Making Acrylic Cabinetry Solid sheet acrylic and acrylic veneer are opening a new niche in cabinetmaking. Here is some background information and an extensive set of photo examples of finished work. November 29, 2014

Vocabulary for Frameless Cabinet Parts "What do you call that thing?" The terminology used to describe the various structural elements of a frameless cabinet appears to vary widely throughout the industry. June 16, 2014

Marketing and Selling Outsourced Cabinets Here's an insightful discussion of the practical aspects of outsourcing cabinet parts for the small shop, in light of customer perceptions of the value of the end product. November 23, 2008

Work-Station Shop Organization Systems Thoughts on a shop setup that involves moving the workpiece from station to station, rather than moving pieces and tools onto and off of a single work bench.May 23, 2011

Blind woodworker's story A blind cabinetmaker tells the story of his education and career in woodworking. (From WOODWEB's Cabinetmaking Forum) January 21, 2003

Outsourcing Pros and Cons Outsourcing door production is a no-brainer  except when it's not. This discussion looks at door production from both sides. July 5, 2011

Bidding Wars Heat Up In a tough economy, price undercutting can get extreme. Here, a cabinetmaker's anecdote sets off a long discussion of price competition and reality. August 11, 2009

Scribing three edges Templates, tic sticking and more for efficient scribing in difficult situations. September 20, 2003

Are Solid Wood Cabinets Practical to Build? A long, highly informative discussion of the practical and other issues involved in building and selling cabinetry made from solid wood rather than plywood or composites. February 26, 2007

Tooling Up to Make Doors An extended discussion of the best investment in equipment for a cabinetmaker who wants to start making his own doors. March 26, 2010

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Doors Here's a detailed and lively discussion among cabinetmakers and door specialists about the key issues in outsourcing doors, including schedules, quality, efficiency, cost, and making good on mistakes. October 26, 2007

Small Shop Struggles A one-employee cabinet shop owner gets wide-ranging practical advice on managing his fledgling business. The voice of experience, from pros who have been there. August 29, 2005

Setting Shop Temperature A long discussion about how warm (or cool) to keep a shop, whether to turn the heat down at night and over the weekend, and the effect on costs, productivity, and quality of different practices. December 24, 2012

Square Edges and Edgebanding Woodweb's Cabinetmaking forum straightens out a shop owner who has been edgebanding after putting cabinets together. Along the way there's a detailed discussion of how to produce square edge cuts, even with basic equipment. March 3, 2009

Backyard Shop Ideas Here's lots of advice for a first-time shop builder from cabinetmakers who have been there and done that (with a side discussion about relating to the neighbors). January 28, 2009

Making Money on Custom Installs How can a 2-man operation stay profitable on cabinetry installations? A discussion of costs, pricing, planning, and time management for installing custom work. July 27, 2008

Plywood Thickness for Cabinet Construction What starts out as a question about 1/4" versus 1/2" plywood for cabinet backs, turns into a long discussion of what plywood cabinetmakers prefer for building carcases, and why. January 20, 2007

Defining "Custom Cabinets" What is a "custom" cabinet, and what do terms like "semi-custom" and "stock cabinet" mean? Pros discuss the dividing line between craftsmanship and mass production. December 28, 2005

Cabinet Door Shop Set-Up Necessities Specializing in cabinet doors isn't a business you can easily jump into. Here's a lively discussion about "barriers to entry"  the minimum scale required for success, and the equipment you'll need to compete. December 14, 2009

Door Sanding Quality Issues Here's advice on setting quality standards for cabinet door final sanding, and meeting the goals in a competitive market. April 2, 2013

Pricing Kitchen Cabinets Price by the foot, or by the box? Cabinetmakers discuss the pros and cons of different estimating and pricing methods. May 20, 2006

Stickley Design A question about Stickley style provokes answers starting with a discussion about rift-sawn and quartersawn oak, and ending with a wide-ranging ramble (or was that rumble?) about Gustav Stickley, the Arts and Crafts movement, history, and the philosophy of work and play. Some pictures of cabinets he ......

Cabinet Shop Growing Pains A cabinet shop owner gets advice on expanding his production volume while integrating some complex new software into his workflow. July 12, 2008

Preparing Face Frame Stock A lively discussion among cabinetmakers about whether, when, and how to joint, plane, or sand stock for face frames. October 8, 2005

Quality Control in Cabinet Door Fabrication This conversation starts with a question about adhesive choices for frame and panel door construction, but broadens out into a discussion about the acceptable incidence of defects across a range of door quality measures. December 9, 2013

Melamine: Why? If you think melamine is for cheap manufactured imported cabinets, think again. This discussion explores the varied character of melamine, including its appropriate use in some top-dollar projects. August 16, 2012

Selling Factory-Made and Custom Cabinet Lines When you offer both your own custom-made cabinetry and a less expensive line of factory cabs, pricing and selling strategies become complicated. Here's a long and thoughtful discussion. January 19, 2011

Whether to Rebuild an Edgebander Here's a savvy discussion of the pros and cons of replacing a few important parts on an edgebander to keep it running for more years. June 15, 2014

Attention, Safety Practices, and Loose Nuts A woodworker describes how a moment's inattention damaged his machine  but luckily, not him. The tale sets off a long thread of similar stories (including one fatality) and lessons learned. November 16, 2011

Entry-Level Edgebanding Here's a discussion of how to accomplish occasional and incidental edgebanding with decent quality, when you don't do enough of that kind of work to justify a big investment. August 19, 2013

Baby Steps toward More Efficient Sanding A small shop owner considers stepping up to a drum sander or stroke sander, or just investing in more compressor capacity and some pneumatic hand sanders. October 27, 2011

Face Frame Joinery The definitive, final, last-word discussion on all the ways there are to assemble face frames, until next time. June 28, 2007

Should I Specialize in Door Production? These days, the cabinet door industry is highly competitive and has low margins. Here's a discussion of the realities of starting a door-making business. March 25, 2007

Pricing Custom Cabinets and Trim Even within one local market, prices can be all over the map. Balancing careful itemized estimating against local market conditions can help you turn a decent profit. August 23, 2006

Frame-and-Panel Carcases Versus Applied End Panels What's better, building a plywood box and attaching frame-and-panel elements to it, or using the raised-panel frames as structural elements in the cabinet? Cabinetmakers discuss history, technique, and the state of the art. June 5, 2006

Sanding Shaker Door Edges Cabinetmakers describe how they manage to get square door edges sanded while maintaining a consistent size. June 16, 2014

Speeding up the Work with a Value Stream Map Drawing a map to visualize the steps in the production process helps cabinet shops streamline their processes and focus on productive activities instead of on moving parts around. October 2, 2007

Efficient Drawer-Front Installation In this long, detailed discussion, cabinet pros swap techniques for attaching drawer fronts and discuss how to improve efficiency and accuracy of this fussy and time-consuming step. September 8, 2007

What's the Best Tool for Cutting Panels? A start-up shop owner asks whether he should purchase a sliding table saw, a vertical panel saw, or maybe even a beam saw. Experienced hands offer thoughtful opinions. July 6, 2005

Out-of-Level Floor Problem A cabinet job for a new house with an out-of-level floor leads to a callback. Pros weigh in with views and technical advice. August 29, 2005

Getting Mahogany Flat Very hard woods with alternating grain patterns sometimes develop waviness when sanded with wide-belt equipment. Here's an extensive discussion of the characteristics of Mahogany, and of ways to approach it using both hand tools and power equipment. November 12, 2005

Setting and Leveling Base Cabinets A discussion of various methods for setting base cabs, including using a separate ladder base, using leg levelers, or using a wall cleat at the back and leg levelers in the front. March 26, 2009

Kitchen Pricing for Newbies So this guy's trying to figure out how much to charge for building a kitchen for a relative. Naturally, it's all relative. But beginners could begin to grasp the basics of pricing from this discussion. June 8, 2008

Cabinet Refacing Labor Hours Making a profit on cabinet refacing depends on being productive on site. Here are some thoughts on the labor time required with various methods. May 28, 2010

Assessing a Used Edgebander Advice on checking a previously owned edgebander for typical wear and tear issues, and some complaints about the inconsistent thickness of edgebanding these days. August 19, 2013

Comparing Assembly Methods for Euro Cab Construction Starting with a question about entry-level cabinet assembly, and bypassing a digression about business qualifications, this thread digs deep into the relative advantages of different assembly methods and process systems for a production cabinet shop. April 27, 2011

Responsibility for a Too-Dark Finish A cabinetmaker is being asked to hold the bag for the poor work done by a painter who the customer hired. In this thread, professionals suggest ways to handle the problem. November 11, 2005

Blade Choices for Table Saws Thoughts on which saw blades work best for which materials, and some general info on saw blade characteristics and maintenance. December 27, 2010

Rough P-Lam Edges, Specs, and AWI Standards A bad case of chip-out on some laminated door edges leads to an informative discussion of AWI standards and quality specifications, along with some good guesses about what caused the unacceptable chip-out. November 23, 2012

Edgebander or Small CNC? A part-time garage-shop cabinetmaker gets advice on whether his next investment should be a CNC or an edgebander. Good thoughts on both sides in this long thread. October 11, 2007

Mitered Versus Cope and Stick Door Joinery A customer's red herring about "strength" of mitered versus square door joinery leads to a discussion of the pros and cons of different door construction joints from the cabinetmaker's point of view.June 7, 2011

Finding Software for Design and Visualization It's hard to find one application that will quickly create design visualizations for a customer during a sales meeting, but also generate good designs suitable for construction in the shop. This thread offers some insight into software capabilities and some nice example drawings. December 28, 2010 ......

Router Table Add-ons With a router lift, precision fence, and some customizing, a router table can "kinda-sorta" stand in as a poor man's shaper. November 26, 2006

Figuring Out Woodshop Power Requirements Amps, volts, watts, horsepower, and all that jazz: here's an instructive thread on how to figure out if a building's power supply will support your plans for shop equipment. July 9, 2007

Relationships with Edgebanders No two ways about it, edgebanders are temperamental. Here's an extended discussion on getting through the working day with your useful but finicky mechanical partner. December 7, 2007

Switching to Factory-Built Cabinets A Gulf Coast cabinetmaker has had good luck with a line of factory cabinets. His story triggers a discussion of today's market realities and the pros and cons of adding factory-made cabs to your business model. November 10, 2006

Gluing Teak to Plywood Advice on surface prep and adhesive choice for glue-up of teak and plywood doors on a boat. October 13, 2010

Thirty-Inch Deep Base Cabinets Extra depth brings cabinet faces out flush with a standard refrigerator, but it introduces other complications. In this discussion, cabinetmakers share techniques for building 30-inch deep cabinets that work. December 28, 2005

Mixing African and Honduras Mahogany A long discussion of the woodworking characteristics of various Mahogany types and substitutes, and the practicality of combining different woods in a single door. June 29, 2008

Installing Drawer Faces A long, detailed discussion about various ways to accurately and rapidly attach drawer fronts when installing cabinets. February 16, 2012

Cabinet Refacing Can it work as a business? Pros share business and tech tips. June 17, 2005

Screws for Joining Face Frames Together A cabinet installer finds his crews are snapping the occasional screw when connecting adjoining face frames in the field. Here's a discussion of installation methods, clamps, and fastening hardware. December 27, 2007

Building a Shop Cabinet shop owners converse about what they would do differently if they were to build their shop all over again, again. August 14, 2007

One-Man Installation Setup Small cabinet-shop owners explain how they organize bringing their tools and supplies to the jobsite for installations. March 9, 2008

Screw Through a Water Pipe: Whose Fault? It's a typical snafu: the cabinet installer hits a water pipe with a screw. This thread is a collection of examples, with descriptions of who covered the repair cost. August 16, 2012

Outsourcing Cabinet Installation There are good reasons to install your own cabinets, and good reasons to have someone else do it. Here, installers and cabinetmakers discuss the fine points of communication and cooperation among specialists. August 3, 2005

Re-Flattening a Warped Countertop A beautiful wood countertop warped after it was finished on one side only, then stored for years. This discussion is about making it flat again by kerfing the underside and clamping the piece. September 16, 2008

Appliance Size Specifications Rant Here's a universal complain from cabinetmakers: it's dern near impossible to find out the dimensions of a kitchen appliance without measuring the actual appliance.November 27, 2012

Expanding Table Saw Capacity Woodworkers discuss choosing a second table saw, building on an outfeed table, using a "shoot board," and other ways to expand panel ripping and crosscutting capacity. August 3, 2009

Setting Up a 32mm Stop System Tips on the "Sticks" 32mm stop system from Metricks, and general advice on getting started with 32mm Euro cabinetry methods. August 31, 2009

Keeping the Glue Pot Clean This thread starts with a question about glue brands, but evolves into a discussion about how to operate the glue-pot edgebander to avoid charring of glue and reduce the need for cleaning the equipment. November 2, 2010

Face Frames: Re-face Versus Replace Here's an interesting thread about the advantages of replacing just a cabinet face frame, instead of refacing the cabinet or replacing it altogether. June 11, 2014

What to Do When a Customer Bid-Shops You Pros give advice on handling the situation where a customer asks a cabinetmaker to price-compete with a low-ball bidder. (Note: The good guys won this one.) February 17, 2006

Straight Line Ripping on Two Edges Cabinetmakers discuss the difficulty, cost, benefits, and drawbacks of buying lumber that has been straight line ripped on two edges  or buying the equipment and doing it yourself. October 13, 2012

Plywood Vs. Solid Wood What do you mean by "solid, dude"? In this thread, cabinetmakers communicate about wood, plywood, particleboard, veneers, core materials, core values, and symbolic forms of expression. It's all in good fun. October 8, 2005

Finished Versus Unfinished Cabinet Installations In some areas, cabinets are often delivered unfinished and sprayed on site, but in other markets that's practically unheard-of. Here, cabinetmakers discuss the pros and cons of both approaches. May 23, 2007

"Green" Cabinetry Environmentally-friendly or non-toxic cabinet work has become an important market niche. In this thread, cabinetmakers discuss the ins and outs of meeting customer expectations for "green" cabinets. September 4, 2005

Touching Up the Burnt Ends of a Routed Flute Here's advice on cleaning up the rounded end of a flute if the router leaves burn marks  and on scraper sharpening, and on how to avoid those burn marks to begin with. February 11, 2010

Squaring up a Vertical Panel Saw Here's advice on tweaking a second-hand vertical panel saw into square (with the proviso that a trained tech will do it faster and better).February 16, 2014

Feets Don't Fail Me Now All day on on your feet on a concrete shop floor is an rX for full-body pain. In this thread from the Cabinetmaking forum, old hands with old feet tell where they stand on personal footwear. October 1, 2005

Setting Up to Build Cabinet Doors Even if you usually outsource, building your own doors in special circumstances can make sense. Here's advice on machinery and tooling for that scenario. June 16, 2014

Miter Joinery in a Wood Countertop In principle, a miter joint in wood is problematic because of moisture-related expansion and contraction. But some installers say that if the whole countertop is left free to move, the joint will be okay. January 25, 2013

Equipment Choices A closet contractor shopping for an edgebander, boring machine, and panel saw considers his machinery options, new versus used equipment, and whether to lease or buy. November 11, 2005

Installing Built-Ins Over Carpet Should built-in cabinets be installed over existing carpet, or should the carpet be cut away and re-attached at the joint? Craftsmen debate the point. July 24, 2005

Joinery for Cabinet Drawer Boxes What's the best joint for a drawer box, asks a shop owner who wants to supply drawers for the trade? Cabinetmakers share their thoughts on drawer joinery and on supplying the outsourcing market. November 22, 2005

Delivery Truck Choices How best to move cabinets: Truck or trailer? Purchase or lease? Or just hire a moving company? Shop owners kick the topic around. September 4, 2005

Compressor Choices for Pneumatic Sanders It takes a lot of air to power air sanders, but many shop owners consider the upgrade worthwhile. Here's extensive advice on compressor choice, with additional tips on setup and operation. September 8, 2007

Jointing Door Stock Twice Is a shop worker being too careful and creating double work? How much trouble is it worth to be extra sure that door parts are precisely milled? January 19, 2012

Sliding Table Attachment Woodworkers report varying degrees of satisfaction with sliding table attachments for their tablesaws. One big factor may be how carefully you first set the equipment up. December 14, 2005

Balanced Laminating Over Melamine Here's a detailed discussion about whether it's okay to apply laminate over just one face of a melamine door, and about various other ways to achieve the same product. October 12, 2012

Applied Mouldings on Cabinet Doors Tips on how to achieve production-shop speed and custom-shop quality when applying mouldings to frame-and-panel cabinet doors. September 23, 2006

Tricked-Out Job Trailers An extended thread on how to customize your "shop on wheels" for convenience and efficiency. August 13, 2007

Solid Surface as a Shelf Nosing An architect's query sets off a spirited discussion of using solid surface material for shelf nosings. Appropriate adhesives, durability, and movement rates are issues (and yes, it has been done before). June 10, 2006

Trimming Out a Boat Finish carpentry and cabinetry are a whole different game when you're working on a boat. December 8, 2010

Boring Machines Casework assembly methods that rely on evenly-spaced 32-mm holes are most efficient when you have high-volume precision equipment to bore the holes. Here's a rundown on the options in machinery for that purpose. September 18, 2008

Choosing a Phase Converter Here's advice on choosing a phase converter to bump up two-phase power to supply three-phase motors, with some explanation of how those gizmos actually work. January 31, 2012

A Cabinet as a Shower Wall? Crazy as it sounds, this question is real: In a tight-space remodel, how to build cabinets so their back side can be tiled and serve as the wall of a shower. Read and learn. May 6, 2007

Boosting Air Supply You can step up to a beefier compressor, or you can tweak your setup by adding buffer air tanks and another small compressor to work in tandem with existing equipment. October 26, 2011

Shopping for a Slider Comparing and contrasting two makes of sliding table saw, with comments about the fine points of user-friendliness. February 2, 2011

Finishing Wood Edges of Laminate Tops Suppose you want to edge-band laminate tops before finishing the edgebanding? Here are some creative ideas for protecting the laminate top from overspray while finishing just the edge. May 22, 2007

Cabinet Pocket Doors and Adjustable Shelves A construction problem: how to build a cabinet with adjustable shelves, inset into a wall, with doors that open out and slide back into recesses next to the cabinet. August 30, 2010

Equipment Issues for Final Door Sanding Cross-grain scratches from the wide-belt, then swirl marks from the random-orbit sanders  what's the solution to minimize the final hand-sanding stage? November 26, 2006

Do Edgebanders Provide Perfect Output? Few, if any edgebanders will consistently produce panels that can pass your thumb's feel test  and none will without continual tending by a good operator. December 27, 2006

Quarter-Inch Plywood for Cabinet Backs Cabinetmakers discuss whether it's wise to economize by using quarter-inch plywood and a stiffening strip for cabinet backs, rather than half-inch or three-quarter-inch material. July 5, 2006

Free Span Limits of Cabinet Shelving For wide cabinets with double doors and no center stile, how far is too far for the shelves to span? Here are suggestions for stiffening wide span shelving. March 27, 2012

Shaper Choice for Making Door Panels A 5 horsepower shaper gives you some extra power when you need it, but you can get by with 3 horsepower. Here's an extended discussion of the options. April 16, 2009

Shopping for a Used Slider Cabinetmakers discuss the desireable and undesirable attributes to consider in purchasing a previously owned sliding table saw on a budget. November 15, 2011

Making a Full-Height Cabinet Fit A full-ceiling-height refrigerator cabinet can be a bear to install, because you can't tip it up (the diagonal is too long). Here's a useful thread on solving that problem. January 20, 2007

Fine-Tuning an Edgebander Detailed advice on tweaking the edgebander so that edges don't require hand-trimming or sanding. November 30, 2009

Cabinet Assembler Productivity How many cabs should an assembler put together daily, assuming all the pieces are cut and ready? In this thread, bosses and workers offer their perspectives. November 12, 2005

Drawer Front Adjustment Issues Drawers with a sub-front and applied face offer the chance to adjust fit on site or during assembly. But what about four-piece drawer boxes with no sub-front? April 29, 2011

Sanding and Squaring Raised Panel Doors It's typical to build raised-panel doors a hair over-size so that they can be squared up accurately as a final step. In this thread, cabinetmakers describe the various ways they go about it. April 18, 2011

Sanding Cabinet Doors Efficiently Final sanding on cabinet doors can hold back productivity. Here, shop owners discuss means and methods for sanding door faces and profiles in a production environment. October 22, 2005

Life as a Cabinetmaker "Would you do it all over again?" asks a cabinet shop owner after five years of struggling with business realities. Heartfelt responses prove that building cabinets is no easy way to make a buck. February 21, 2006

Blind Dadoes Versus Dowel Joinery A discussion of the efficiency and accuracy trade-offs involved in switching from blind-dado and screw construction to dowel joinery. August 8, 2008

Competition for Installation Contracts A cabinetmaker complains that his installation sub started working directly for the builder. The story sets off a discussion on fair competition in the new-construction market. November 11, 2005

Sanding Door Edges The group agrees that a spindle sander is a bad idea for sanding door edges; instead, here are tips on edge sanders. February 16, 2012

Bleeding Space-Ball Blues Space balls have been known to exude a mysterious fluid that can show up in the finish of a raised panel door, leading to possible heart palpitations. (Not really, but it is disturbing.) February 20, 2008

Measuring-Tape Accuracy Finding an accurate tape measure is a challenge. Ensuring an accurate match between two different tapes is even more challenging. July 11, 2007

Kitchen Design: Symmetry Versus Functionality Here's a nice exercise in cabinet design: Whether to choose cabinet sizes for symmetrical appearance, even though it will call for special hardware to make a trash pull-out work.January 31, 2012

Crown Moulding for Uneven Height Cabinets Alternating high and low upper cabinets create a puzzle when it's time to apply crown molding at the top. Here, installers share ideas and show finished examples. July 24, 2005

Glue Injection Techniques When laminate or veneer is lifting, you can make a slit, inject adhesive, and clamp for a clean repair. Here are some detailed tips on getting the glue where it needs to go. February 20, 2008

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